User:Maid of Erin/sandbox

The ‘Maid of Erin’ statue stands on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in Tipperary Town (52°28'24.1"N 8°09'49.7"). It is also known as the Manchester Martyrs monument. The statue was erected in 1907. It was officially unveiled on March 10th, 1907, by Charles Doran, an influential member of the IRB at the time. It was moved in 2003 from its original position on the main thoroughfare to its current position at the end corner of the main street.

The statue depicts a woman standing on a base which depicts the faces of three men on each side. It is believed that the figure of a woman was used to represent Ireland as a pure and virgin country with a nod to the Catholic Church who’s influence at the time of construction was very strong in Ireland. A portrait of the faces of the 3 men are carved into the base of the monument. The monument was designed by a Tipperary man named P. Cleary and constructed in Dublin by J. O'Reilly.

The monument was erected by the Tipperary branch of the Irish Fusiliers to commemorate the Manchester Martyrs, Allen, Larkin, and O’Brien. The men were executed for the murder of a police officer in Manchester in 1867. The youngest of those executed, Allen, was born in the town before moving to Bandon. The name of the monument the ‘The Maid of Erin’ has a longstanding tradition of being associated with the Nationalist movement. For example, the Washington Post, 1919, reports of a young girl being dressed up as the ‘Maid of                    Erin,’ with the tri-colour being draped over her shoulders. As the republic had not been established, republican groups were not allowed to take part in public events. However, the mentioning of the ‘Maid of Erin’ in the Washington Post illustrates nationalist connotations associated with the name of the statue.

The monument currently stands on the corner of Davitt and Main Street in the town. One of three walls around the monument is a high wrought iron gate. The monument is carved from a limestone block. There are two information boards also situated behind the gates; one in English and one in Irish. The monument was removed from the public sphere in 1992 to undergo extensive renovation works. It also became clear that it could not be replaced back to its original position on the N24 as it was hindering the movement of trucks and busses through the town. After many protests from local business owners it was unveiled at its current location in 2003 by the Tipperary mayor, Anna Tuohy-Halligan.